Swimming With Sunfish
Meet Sunfish, a curious ensemble who came together during one fated trip to Croatia. Well, most of them; all of the bassists that have graced their employ happen to be as consistent as the Utah weather. Of the original trio, we have Carter, the confident lead singer & guitarist who cracks a joke at every opportunity; Luke, the man who can & will tackle every instrument while speaking his mind to you; and Damon, a Green Day-loving drummer who couldn’t care less about interviews, but will grow defensive about salted pretzels. They’re joined by a whole cast of bassists, including Nathan Chen, Kein -- their most recent addition, who may or may not be learning how to play bass between shows --, as well as a few others. In the off chance that they’re without one of their usual bassists at a show, you can find them forcing Luke on bass for a Green Day cover set, or abandoning music entirely that night to have Carter recite the entirety of Hamlet.
“Miserable”, released December 19th, 2019, is kind of like the middle child in their debut releases. It encapsulates the edginess that Luke and Damon have held protest to since the inception of the band. Carter would like to preface that the voice recording, while scripted, is based upon a real voicemail that played a part in the creation of the band and I’d highly recommend listening to it before you continue reading. After coming home from their two week trip to Croatia and Italy, Carter decided to take some milestones in his life by starting a band and dropping his relationship with his then-girlfriend. In some ways, the band could not have been so accomplished if this song was born of their time during and after Croatia. The simple melodies accompanied by the unapologetic lyrics lend themselves as a reiteration that they are a new band, but they’re not afraid to show off who they are.
“Too High”, released December 13th, 2019, is another song born from the depths of Carter’s mind. It began as the raw idea of an emotion that he needed to get out of his system, but wasn’t able to reach fruition until it received the contributions of his bandmates. It became the compromise of ideas and musicality in the best ways. The meaning remained unchanged, though, and, hopefully, whoever was supposed to be at the receiving end of this dedication can find more meaning in their lives. The solos in this song really exemplify their talent as artists, and I personally hope we receive more drum solos, like the one featured in this song, in future releases.
“Lil’ Tune”, released December 6th, 2019, is the beginning of their Spotify discography, and, undisputedly, their most popular song. At the time of our interview they had an impressive 36k plays on Spotify, followed by “Too High” at 6k plays. The song’s name is actually a remnant of the early days of the band, where everything was named “Lil’ Tune [#]”, until Luke decided to spice it up by naming the following songs as “Quaint Bop” and such. The first rendition of the song probably wouldn’t have garnered the same attention, as it was an uncomfortably synth heavy with a cadence that you might find in 90’s R&B. One of the most refreshing things about this song, over the others, is that it doesn’t start out with the same opening notes that have been moved to a different key and it leans away from their otherwise edgy persona.
“Not Gonna Make It”, released December 20th, 2019, is their most recent, though ironic, song as it talks about the uncertainties of becoming a band while having the least amount of plays of all of their current releases. While it is, arguably, the most lyrically avant-garde of all their current songs, it falls short in achieving the same kind of complex musical form that songs like “Lil’ Tune” possessed; remaining simple and monophonic throughout the song. Which is unfortunate because of the message they’re trying to convey and the stereotypes they try to challenge as young artists.
Salt Lily sat down with Sunfish to talk about their music.
Where did the inspiration from the Sunfish Logo & name come from?
Carter: The sunfish is a weird story actually, I started playing in a band called Park City Rockers, but quit for a little bit to be a professional ski racer. When I was training I had a bone pop out -- compound fracture is what I think they call it -- and one day, my friend just grabbed my arm and drew a little fish head and tail on it. So that’s kind of where it came from. So then I texted Damon, because, back then, we used to be a two-piece before this whole band came together, and I gave him a list of band names that basically just said “Something” & “Fish.
Damon: “I guess Sunfish is fine”
Luke: I’m still upset about it. You made it sound like we still had a choice in the name that was already decided.
Croatia
Carter: The three of us [Carter, Damon, & Luke] are in a program down in American Fork that has a bunch of different bands. We played in a jazz cover set, where I played upright bass, but I hated it because it sounded awful. So I switched over to electric bass for the rest of the trip. Other than that it was amazing because we got to play these live shows on big stages every night, then we went to Spain and it was alright.
Damon: It was fine. It was cool. I mean- it was two weeks and we got to play 10-11 shows out of the country.
Carter: We actually met Luke because he was in a separate soul-cover band in the same program who then subbed for our band. He ended up staying in our room because his roommate was making out with someone else in the program and kicked him out. We have a song about that coming up called Calgary.
How would you describe your band and where does it fit in the current era?
Carter: A friend from another band said that we sound like Nirvana, if Kurt Cobain was more sad and less angry.
Luke: What could have brought this about? Maybe the song called ‘Miserable’.
Carter: Kurt Cobain yells at people, and I just yell
Luke: Tragic
Do you think that being so young has held you back from professional opportunities or you as artists?
Carter: I feel that -- it doesn’t come into play too much. They’re surprised when we come to play at concerts and they’re like ‘oh, you’re young’.” … “It’s not - I don’t want to say that it holds us back that much, it is a thing that comes into play. I’d say our generation is the most depressing one to be in of the past few. You come into this world where the climate is dying, and the movies are about violence and war, and all the music is politically charged. You just come into this thing where everything is polarized. You can’t just choose something without making enemies.
As it happens, the band was slated to perform several shows between March and April, but have been suspended in light of the recent COVID-19 situation. I would implore all of our readers to check out this band [IG: @sunfish.sunfish.sunfish] and support this artist, and other artists, by streaming their music or purchasing their merch. They are still preparing to release two new songs within the next few months: “Faith”, a short, blue-sy song that has a lot of energy, and “Calgary”, a punk tribute to their meeting in Croatia.
